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World Team Trophy: Final Thoughts

1. Yay or Nay?
2. Any suggestions?

1. I say YAY! But only with some modifications for the future.
2. Let's be honest. It wasn't necessary for France, Russia, and China to compete. The top 3 team's scores ranged from 50-60. The bottom 3 team's scores ranged from 34-37. Is it really worth it for the last 3 teams to participate in this competition when they have no chance at medaling? I would think many of the skaters in the French, Russian, and Chinese team thought them being there was pointless and would rather have spent their time recooperating after a long, hard season and/or making more money participating in ice shows. Which is why I suggest WTT should have an equal emphasis on all the disciplines. Why are singles allowed 2 entries but pairs and ice dance only 1? Is that really fair? France, Russia, and China could have, and probably would have, fared a lot better if they were allowed 2 entries of their strongest disciplines.

I read this suggestion at FSU and I think it's the best and most equal solution to the problem. This year, the teams consisted of 2 Men's, 2 Ladies, 1 Pair, and 1 Dance: 6 entries. If the WTT is meant to emphasize equality among all 4 disciplines, then federations should be allowed to submit 6 entries of any kind they want, with a maximum limit of 2 for each discipline. So federations with stronger pairs and dance teams can send 2 Pairs, 2 Dance, 1 Men's, and 1 Ladies. And the point distribution of 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and so on, should be the same for every discipline.

I believe with this new rule change, all 6 teams participating in WTT can have a more equal chance at medaling, as opposed to this year, when teams with stronger singles were the only teams with a shot at medaling.

Frankly I will be shocked if WTT survives. It was made for TV event which disguised as competition. I think it will follow footstep of campbell cup.
AS for rule change, everybody knows rule for WTT was designed to benefit japan which doesn't have decent dance and pair team. As long as japan provides funding, there will be no change and other countries won't ask change either because nobody seems to take this as real compettion.

There are many different ways of equaling out the score without changing the team make up. One could double the amount of points the pairs and icedancers get. One could have a single skater do a short and another do the long and how ever the sinlges place as a pair is how many points they get.

I enjoyed this competition, what little I saw of it. I liked the money the skaters earned. And I liked the fact that my team won. But I think if the event is to continue, there should be a few changes.

One suggestion is that teams should be able to send one man and two pairs if that will help them. Another way is to send 2 to each discipline. I can see how the current format is unfair to some teams.

My biggest problem is that skaters were pressured into competing. I think there must be a better way.

I only watched one or two vids on youtube, but one thing I noticed, as I did during the 07 worlds, is the Japanese audience: they're by far one the best in the world and it's such a shame that other audiences aren't the same (I'm ashamed of my fellow country men).

Maybe to ensure the succes of GP events, all of them should try and have as many Japanese stars as they can!

If the WTT is meant to emphasize equality among all 4 disciplines, then federations should be allowed to submit 6 entries of any kind they want, with a maximum limit of 2 for each discipline. So federations with stronger pairs and dance teams can send 2 Pairs, 2 Dance, 1 Men's, and 1 Ladies.

I'm not sure what the WTT is meant to emphasize, but IMO this suggestion makes sense, and if the event survives, I hope that change is made. Also, I loved the team Kiss and Cry areas. I wish we could have them at every event. Between the Americans acting like idiots, the French acting drunk and everyone having fun, it was just fantastic!

The International Skating Union slipped in another event when nobody was looking.

Well, the skating-mad Japanese were looking, hence a sold-out crowd in Tokyo for the inaugural World Team Trophy championships over the weekend.

...

Traditionally, the competitive skating season concludes with the worlds. But the ISU threw this event at the skaters without consultation. As late as a fortnight ago, it was not even a certainty.

Though weary, skaters declined to criticize the ISU for what was plainly a command performance.

"We weren't exactly forced to participate," said Moir. "But the ISU told us if we didn't come, we wouldn't be allowed to do anything else for the rest of the year, including shows. And, of course, there's always national pride at stake. We came here to win."

The fact that the National governing bodies were not even consulted about this competition sits the wrong way with me. I understand the ISU needs money but this competition seems thrown together at the last minute with no real purpose. It has already been an extremely exhausting season for the skaters so I don't quite see the point. I doubt it will continue.

The fact that the National governing bodies were not even consulted about this competition sits the wrong way with me. I understand the ISU needs money but this competition seems thrown together at the last minute with no real purpose.

I do not understand where this perception comes from. This event was fully developed more than a year ago, and was in the planning stages for many months before that. The formal announcement including all of the rules, prizes, etc., was issued in March, 2008, and never changed.

As for the participation of the member federations, the organizing committee for the event (as for all ISU competitions) was the ISU Figure Skating Event Coordination Group. Its composition is

An interesting take. Actually, the event was announced more than a year ago. (March, 2008, ISU Communication #1490.)

Thank you for the information. On the other hand it is also hard to believe that the article came out of nothing. The reporter of the article probably had his/her own credible source of information considering that the statements "But the ISU threw this event at the skaters without consultation. As late as a fortnight ago, it was not even a certainty." are quite specific.

So we have two facts: 1. WTT was announced more than a year ago. 2. Neverthless it was not a certainty until very recently.

I guess the only consistent way to combine these two facts is as follows. Even if it was officially announced more than a year ago and probably candidate skaters were asked to participate in WTT long time ago, many of them refused or showed little interest until very recently. Then of course ISU and/or the federations worked hard to "persuade" the skaters. During that process some people complained and the article came out.

I just hope that they will not push skaters too much next time. Let skaters decide.